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Many small businesses that work in non-traditional means have been forced to get creative when it comes to accepting payments. For example, attendance at farmers markets and craft fairs can be a great way for some companies to get their name out and connect with their customers. However, traditionally it can be challenging to accept payments other than cash when making sales in a parking lot surrounded by other small businesses.

This has changed in recent years thanks to the boom of mobile technology and third party payment applications. In a recent column for GeekWire, Taylor Soper profiled taxi drivers and how the industry has embraced mobile devices for payments.

In the piece, Soper talks about a two week stay he had in Seattle where, to his surprise, nearly every cab he was … more

The technology landscape is changing rapidly, and in no place is this more obvious than for small businesses. A recent article from Vertical Systems Reseller examined several of the hottest technologies in the retail market.

The main takeaway from the report is that existing solutions are evolving with the help of new technology. These are things like sales reporting being influenced by big data and analytics.

The escalated EMV timeline was discussed as well. The Target breach has put the technology back in the limelight because of the security potential of the solution. While Visa and MasterCard have roadmaps in place for adopting the solution, many other card providers like Chase, Bank of America, Citibank, U.S. Bank, Wells Fargo and American Express also are starting to … more

On the outskirts of the United States payment industry sits the Europay MasterCard Visa (EMV) chip card standard. It's a system that has been bandied about for some time for U.S. adoption and has been in play in other countries for some time. However, by October 2015, Visa and MasterCard will require merchants and card issuing banks to deploy the solution or risk increased liability exposure.

While this seems like a monumental shift in thinking, the benefits of EMV make the technology beneficial. A recent article from ComputerWorld features an interview with Ellen Richey, Visa's chief risk officer. The discussion focused on EMV adoption and more specifically the security benefits that retailers, consumers and banks will experience when it is finally adopted.

There have been several major shifts in the payment industry over the last decade. The use of plastic has increased, eCommerce has grown dramatically and mobile devices have started to gain a serious foothold. Through all this, cash has remained a solid option.

However, a new study from Pew Research Center's Internet and American Life Project has found that the use of cash could be on its last legs. According to respondents, 2020 could be the final year for paper money.

The report found that 65 percent of technology experts and stakeholders believe confidence will grow among consumers and they will fully embrace smart-device swiping for purchases, doing away with cash. This seems inevitable as the use of mobile devices continues to grow and the convenience, security and other … more

Near field communication (NFC) technology has been generating headlines around the payment industry for some time. Its inclusion in the hardware of Apple devices has been rumored, but nothing has come of it yet. The technology could be taking a big step into the mainstream in 2014 thanks to an announcement from two different card providers.

According to a recent article from PYMNTS, Visa and MasterCard announced a cloud-based solution which is geared toward delivering and supporting mobile contactless transactions. The system will leverage Host Card Emulation (HCE), which is an open architecture that enables payments and other NFC services.

The November upgrade to the most popular mobile operating platform, Android OS KitKat 4.4, supports HCE, and through the use of some … more

Last week, this blog covered the fact that "Chip-and-PIN" technology was a focal point of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Executives from both Target and Neiman Marcus said they have plans to use the technology to improve their security systems already in the works, but will be speeding up the process.

While this may be the idea of these two retailers, the entire industry is also going to need to get on board whether they want to or not. A recent article from the Wall Street Journal features an interview with Carolyn Balfany, MasterCard's expert on all things EMV technology.

First it is important to know that both MasterCard and Visa have already released a roadmap that organizations need to follow in order to meet an October 2015 deadline. That is when a "liability shift" will take … more

With the news of the security breach of Target's POS system and servers, as well as the ensuing investigation that found the malware used was linked to several other attacks last year, many people may be asking what is being done to prevent these attacks from happening. This inevitably turns all eyes on the Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council (PCI SSC) and the new security standards (PCI DSS v3.0) which were released in November 2013.

A recent article from Nerd Wallet took this idea and ran with it by examining the latest version of the report and seeing what the main points retailers need to be on the lookout for. Since the regulations are brand new and do not take effect until the new year, which was after the Target breach was uncovered, some of these … more

Last week, this blog covered the news that several retail executives and industry leaders would be heading to Washington to answer questions in front of a Senate Judiciary Committee regarding the Target security breach.

According to an article from Yahoo News, among the conversation of who knew what happened and when, an interesting topic emerged — how EMV and "chip-and-PIN" technology can add another layer of security and needs to be adopted sooner rather than later.

"It is of concern to me that our payment card systems really do need improvement," Federal Trade Commission Chairwoman Edith Ramirez said at the hearing. She added that "based on the latest information available to us ... it's clear that companies need to do a lot more, that they continue to make basic … more

Tonight the world will come together and the focus will be on Sochi, Russia, and the opening ceremonies of the 2014 Winter Olympics. While this is a joyous occasion, there are many reports about security concerns and incomplete infrastructure that could cause major problems.

One thing that every visitor to the games from the United States will come across is different credit card technology protection processes - namely EMV chip cards. This is a standard across Europe and Canada and, as of 2013, 75 percent of Russian ATMs are compliant with this process. Those unfamiliar with it will be able to see it up close and personal.

Chip cards are far from being a new technology. In fact, this is not the first time that these two entities have come together. During the 1996 … more

Last week, we covered the interchange debate in Washington related to the anti-trust lawsuit against MasterCard and Visa. Now, according to CBS News, there is another point of sale conversation coming to Congress, and this one involves POS security.

When it comes to point of sale breaches, 2013 was a particularly bad year. The attack on Target and Neiman Marcus headlined a year that includes several other organizations becoming the victim of criminals. In January, the FBI issued a warning to the retail industry, stressing the possibilities of an increase in future attacks.

This week, executives from Neiman Marcus, Target and several other organizations will be in Congress to answer questions about the events surrounding the breaches. Currently, there is talk of new laws … more